
Class TS ^l:i-l3 

Book . A^ -^^^ 



Copyright l^°. 



4445- 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



LIFE'S UISTDERTOW 



MINNIE KEITH BAILEY 



TOPEKA, KANSAS 

CRANE & COMPANY, PRINTERS 

1905 






LIBRARY of CONGRESS 

Two Copies Received 

DEC 16 1905 

Copyright Entry 

CLASS a XXc. No, 

COPY B. 



Copyrighted 1905, 
By Minnie Keith Bailey. 



COME UP HIGHER. 



Come up higher; the air is purer, 
The sky is bluer : come up higher. 

Come up higher; the mind is cleaner, 
The heart is truer : come up higher. 

Come up higher; life is clearer 

And heaven is nearer: come up higher. 



[I] 



THE RAINY DA Y. 



I sat for hours in the doorway, 

Watching the falling rain ; 
My eyes sought the ground, then lifted 

To look at the sky again. 

But the clouds at that moment had shifted ; 

A sunbeam was peeping through, 
And Nature herself was rejoicing 

At the work she had to do. 

The crickets chirped in the grass outside, 
The birds from the vines replied; 

The very leaves looked up and smiled 
As the clouds kept floating by. 

I thought of the sower and reaper, 

The wonderful ways of God, 
Who prepares for the seedtime and harvest. 

For the bread that must come from the sod ; 



[3] 



THE RAINY DA Y. 



How all things must work together 
To complete the wonderful plan, 

The upbuilding and grand unfolding 
Of the marvelous work, called man; 

How each creature in God's creation 
His place in the plan must fill; 

How some must toil in the valley 
And some must work on the hill; 

How some thrive best in the shadow, 
While some the sunshine take; 

But each in his place is needed, 
For God never makes a mistake. 

So the rain must fall and the wind must blow- 
The man who learns this is wise; 

For the storms we dread and fear to meet 
Are blessings in disguise. 



[5] 



WORTH WHILE. 



Is it worth while, my dear, in this Hfe of ours 
That you look for the weeds among the flowers ? 

Or wouldn't it be better, my dear, as you go 
To seek for the blossoms that are sure there to 
grow ? 

To seek, to find, and to treasure them, too, 
For they help make your life-work honest and 
true. 



In fact, my dear, in this life of ours 
'Tis best to remember only the flowers. 



[7] 



CON TEN THEN T. 



I sought for it over land and sea, 
Wherever the haunt of man could be. 

I sought in the palace of wealth and ease, 
WTiere life seemed sweet as springtime's breeze. 

I sought in the poor man's humble cot, 
Where ceaseless toil is the common lot. 

I sought in childhood, youth, and age, 
I sought with prophet, seer, and sage. 

I sought it near and sought it far, 
I sought in all known things that are. 

I sought me long that blessed spot 
Where reigns content; — I found it not. 



[9] 



TRUE SERVICE. 



Why serve ye the Lord, O ye people, 
By building great temples of stone, 

By taxing your strength and your patience? 
He needs no work but His own. 



Why serve ye the Lord, ye people, 
By sermons and meaningless prayers 

That prove that you preach without practice? 
He calls for your work, not your prayers. 



He calls for your earnest endeavor, 
Your help and charity, too, — 

For the slightest of all of His creatures 
Who need any aid from you. 



[II] 



TRUE SERVICE. 



He rules in the Kingdom of Kindness, 
The Kingdom of mind and of heart ; 

And He needs not the work 

That builds only upon the physical part. 



The pure, the meek, and the mournful, 
The workers in life's busy field, 

He has need of, — not of the planners 
Who garner from others' yield. 



Then do more, think more, and show 
More of the divine that to all has been given, 

And this earth where all beauty doth grow 
Will be ^4ike to the Kingdom of Heaven." 



[13] 



YOUR TASK, 



You may think you know the way better 
The things that you most want to do : 

The path that seems pleasant and smooth 
May not be the place for you. 

But right where you happen to be 
Will be plenty of work for your hand, 

And by doing the things that are near 
You will learn to understand 

That you in your place must stay, 

Wherever that place may be, 
And do with a willing mind 

Each task that you may see. 

And when your work is done 

The way will be clear to you. 
And you'll know your daily task 

Was the only one for you. 



[15] 



LIFE'S PUZZLE, 



I think till my mind is weary 
Of the puzzling problem of life; 

Of the things that seem all crooked, 
And the way that 's full of strife. 

Of the mountains of trouble that tower 
Over some of our struggling brothers; 

Of the clouds that blacken their pathway 
Till they scarce can see one another 

For the shadow that falls over all 
And the gloom they cannot dispel, 

Till life to them is a pall 
And a sorrow they cannot tell. 

How their faces bear silent witness 
To the gloom within the heart, 

And their eyes are never lifted 
To view the better part. 



[17] 



LIFE'S PUZZLE. 



And my heart grows sick with longing, 
And my eyes with tears are dim, 

For the hght that 's never dawning 
Upon their pathway dim. 

Yet to those who strive unceasing. 

The time is sure to come 
When the hght will gleam and the morning 

Will dawn for the weary one. 

And they '11 know that the way. 

Though thorny and full of doubt and pain, 
Was the only path for their feet 

To tread that lead to eternal gain. 

And so in hfe's great puzzle 

I turn me to the light, 
And list to the voice that bids me 

"Walk by faith and not by sight." 



[19] 



i 



RETRIBUTION. 



Whatever you think, you grow to be, 
Your Hf e is a hne that falls true : 
And the things that you think or say or do 
Are all very sure to come back to you. 

They may come to you from the lips of your 

child, 
From the friend that you prize most dear: 
And even the stranger you carelessly meet 
Will reflect but your thought either bitter or 

sweet. 

So, work as you may and think as you will. 
All unheeded by you in life's treadmill, 
The things that you think or say or do 
Are all very sure to come back to you. 



[21] 



i 



MY GARDEN. 



I see in my garden growing 

The rose and the Hly fair ; 
The pansy and the violet 

All spread their fragrance there. 

The rose to me doth speak of love, 
The lily purity doth prove, 
The deep-eyed pansy stands for thought, 
The violet modesty hath brought. 

So in the garden of my mind 

The rose of love I place ; 
The lily in her purity 

My mind must also grace. 

The pansy for most earnest thought 

I tend with anxious care, 
But the violet blue of modesty 

Must reign supremest there. 



[23] 



DO THY PART. 



In life's fierce and earnest battle 
Play not thou the laggard's part. 

But with earnest, high endeavor 
Work thou on with all thy heart. 

Though the place to thee seems little, 

Do not minindze the part, 
But with heart and hand united 

Take thy place in life's great mart. 

And the place so small in seeming 

In the end a gem shall be, 
.\nd a hght to all appearing 

Who shaU foUow after thee. 



[-^5J 



DO THY PART, 



Do that which comes to thee this day, this 
hour, 

And unto thee shall be given power 
To do that which waits for thee 

Even through time unto eternity. 



[n] 



CHEER UP. 



Don't worry about the trifles of life, 
Don't fret at the tiresome places, 

But with heart and hand in unison grand 
Smooth away the wearisome traces 

Of all the past, for trouble can't last, — 

The sun in the sky is shining. 
And every cloud, however dark. 

My dear, has a silvery lining. 

The specks on the face of the grand old sun 
Will fade when we cease to hunt them, 

And only the golden light remains 
To cheer us and help us and show us 

That all of the places when brightened up 
By the light that is always shining 

Will take on new glory and show us the way 
We might miss in our vain repining. 

For good will come of these places, my dear, 
With their lessons of pain or sorrow ; 

So turn to the light and all will be right, — 
The sun will be shining to-morrow. 



[29] 



ONLY. 



Only a song of sweetness whose melody dies on 

the air, 
Only a prayer for help from a soul in dumb 

despair. 

Only a deed of kindness whose influence goes on 

and on, 
Only a word of courage to one whose strength 

seems almost gone. 

Yet song and prayer and deed and word 
Are by the Master heeded and by Him accounted 
good. 



[31] 



A VEIN OF POETRY. 



\r 



Is life, my dear, but humdrum toil? 
There 's a vein of poetry runs through it all. 

It may be only a wild bird's lay, 

Or only a violet that grows by the way. 

It may be the sunset's golden hue. 
It may be a drop of silvery dew. 

It may be the love of a child to you given. 
To point the way of your soul to heaven. 

But you find it, my dear, in the commonest 

things, 
And the spirit within you looks up and sings. 



[33] 



THE BEST WAY. 



Why all this toil and turmoil, 

Why all this care and pain, 
Why all this ^'strenuous effort" 

For only a mite of gain? — 

For a fame that lasts for the hour. 

For a crown of earthly power 
That crumbles to dust and ashes 

In the hand that crumbles, too ; 

In the hand that 's weak and weary, 
In the brain o'erwrought with care; 

In the life your careless handling 
Has left of real treasure bare. 

There 's a better way, and a higher, 

A way that ends in peace, 
A way that blesses and eases, 

A way where strife shall cease. 

'Tis a way that 's fraught with kindness. 

With joy and gladness blest; 
And you '11 find, my dear, if you seek it. 

It is of all ways the best. 

[35] 



LITTLE MAID'S DREAM. 



Little maid with eyes of blue 
And your heart so clean and true, 
With the world before your eyes 
In its fairest, purest guise, 

What dreamest thou? 

Little maid with eyes of brown. 
In thy meekness looking down 
All life's field to you so strange 
From your childhood's narrow range, 
What dreamest thou? 

Little maid with eyes of gray, 
Leaving now your childhood's play 
For the world's strife all untried. 
With thy good angel by thy side, 
What dreamest thou? 

Eyes of blue and eyes of brown, 
Eyes of gray in wonder drawn. 
Wide to gaze on all so new. 
Be thou ever kind and true. 

And the dream thou dreamest, sweet, 
Will be in thy soul complete; 
And the path thou walkest in 
Will be ever free from sin. 

[37] 



THE THANKFUL HEART. 



The thankful heart makes the happy face. 
The cheerful home and the gentle grace 
That adorns the faces of both yoong and (dd, 
x\nd it cannot be bou^t for alver or gold- 

The thankful heart comes from the sjMiit within, 

And ^eds over all in life's busy din. 

A dory divine and a radiance fair 

That gives to each lesson significance rare. 

The thankful heart grows from the useful life. 
That in this world of toil and strife 
The burdens of others will hdp th^n to bear, 
And sorrow as wdl as joy will share. 



[39] 



FINALE. 



I walk the path of Ufe 

And ponder much the ways of men : 

The greed for gain, the quenchless thirst for 

fame, 
The selfish disregard of others' needs; 
The careless handling of a brother's name; 
The rush, the push, the endless race for wealth 

and power 
And then the end, — The narrow, narrow house. 
The silence and the mystery of death. 

I ponder much, and vainly ask 

Myself the need of all the strife, — 

This quenching of the soul of man 

To give the body that of which 

It has so little need; and then 

For only a span of years so brief 

That all our work is left most incomplete. 

The soul that moves forever on 

Must needs the body serve : 

Must to the servant, servant be 

Instead of master as decreed* 



[41] 



FINALE, 

By all that 's good and pure and true. 
And for what? To leave at last that 
Tenement of clay, and claim its own, — 
The splendid brightness of eternal light. 
The endless upward flight from out the night. 

I ponder much the lack of thought 
Of all things fair and sweet. 
The disregard of all our nature's need. 
The three in one — yet only one is fed, 
And that on which it thrives must chain 
The twain to earth ; unless by climbing 
Higher we live above and look beyond 
The human need unto the human end. 
The one must serve — the twain must rule. 
The intellect and soul combine to form 
God's fair mentality; and unto this 
There comes no end — but the sweet peace 
Of calm security — the consciousness 
That the paths we tread lead to endless light 
From out the night. 



[43] 



p, "2/ 

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